Men involved in beat down over cigarettes get prison time

PORT CLINTON – Three people who participated in a December break-in to an Oak Harbor home where residents were assaulted over a missing pack of cigarettes are going to prison, a judge ruled Thursday.

Two of them received the maximum punishment.

“I can only say that this had to be have been horrible for the (victims’) family,” Judge Bruce Winters said during Cody McClanahan’s sentencing Thursday in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court. “Imagine their nightmares over this.”

One of the victims had been at a party with McClanahan, Travis Edwards, Stephen Ryf and Paul Thebeau III. After he left, McClanahan noticed his cigarettes were missing and decided the victim had taken them, according to Oak Harbor police reports.

Around 3:10 a.m. that morning, the four broke into the home, and the victim who had been at the party and his father were punched and assaulted. Thebeau threatened to kill an 11-year-old boy and threatened to use various objects to rape the victim who had been at the party, according to police reports.

Thebeau, 26, of Port Clinton, who was the leader of the incident, was sentenced last month to the maximum of 14 years in prison.

McClanahan, Ryf and Edwards were sentenced during separate hearings on Thursday. In addition to prison time, Winters ordered them to pay restitution to the victims for damages.

Ryf and Edwards received the lightest sentences. They told police Thebeau threatened to kill their children if they did not participate.

McClanahan

On Thursday, Winters sentenced McClanahan, 19, who had no known address at the time of his arrest, to 11 years in prison. McClanahan served as the muscle during the incident and broke a TV, stole DVDs and smashed the residents’ cell phones so they couldn’t call police, according to Oak Harbor police reports.

His lawyer, Amanda Krzystan of Port Clinton, told Winters that McClanahan was drunk and on drugs during the crime and that he had a significant alcohol and drug problem. She asked that he receive treatment instead of prison.

“The things that happened that night were totally out of line,” McClanahan said. “I have nightmares about it. I started medications. I can’t cope with it.

“It’s just very hard to understand how I thought it was all right to do that.”

The victims took McClanahan in when he was homeless, McClanahan told Winters. After the hearing, his mother, who was crying, apologized to the family for what happened.

McClanahan pleaded guilty in March to one felony count each of robbery and intimidation of a witness.

“He seemed to enjoy being the destructive one,” said the father of the family living at the home, who was one of the people assaulted that night. “He had a good time there that night.”

Ryf

Winters order Ryf, 21, Oak Harbor, to serve four and a half years in prison.

Ryf showed little emotion. A woman in the courtroom burst into tears as Winters gave the sentence and said: “Oh my God.”

Ryf’s attorney, Terry Dunn of Port Clinton, told Winters that Ryf was not a willing participant and that he had been threatened and felt forced to go to the home. Dunn asked Winters to put Ryf on probation instead of sending him to prison.

“I was scared,” Ryf said. “I was worried about my kids’ life. I was trying to protect them.

“I won’t let anybody push me into doing anything again.”

The father said Ryf went through his wallet looking for cash and told the family not to call police.

Ryf pleaded guilty in March to one felony count each of attempted robbery and intimidation of a witness.

Edwards

Winters sentenced Edwards, 23, Port Clinton, to three years in prison. He sobbed as Winters explained the sentence to him and as a deputy cuffed him and took him from the courtroom.

During the incident, Edwards was visibly scared and kept apologizing to the victims, according to Oak Harbor police reports.

“Each one of them had a conscious decision to be there,” said the father in the victims’ family. “They all had the opportunity to leave.

“Travis was very apologetic, yet all that time, he chose not to leave.”

His attorney, Ed Schimmel of Toledo, told Winters that Edwards was going to school, had no past felony record and watched one of his children six days a week. He also is a former U.S. Marine and is attending school, Edwards said.

“He’s trying to get back on track where he had been for some time,” Edwards said. “He had done quite well through most of his life.”

Edwards pleaded guilty in March to one felony count each of attempted robbery and attempted intimidation of a witness.

After the hearings, two of the victims and another family member, who was not there that night, said they were pleased with the sentences.

“I think they were appropriate for the situation,” the father said. “The judge did each individual according to their participation.”

Another victim said the most disturbing part of the incident was when Thebeau held a knife to the victim’s11-year-old brother.

“To see him be pushed around like it was nothing was hard,” the victim said.

During his sentencing last month, Thebeau told Winters he had found God and that he was a changed man. But after Winters sentenced him to prison, Thebeau became irate and began yelling at Winters.

“He was very upset with me and showed me his true colors,” Winters said.